Much of the debate around the parameters of intellectual property (IP) protection relates to differing views about what IP law is supposed to achieve. This book analyses the object and purpose of international intellectual property law, examining how international agreements have been interpreted in different jurisdictions and how this has led to diversity in IP regimes at a national level.

What do the Mona Lisa, the light bulb, and a Lego brick have in common? The answer - intellectual property (IP) - may be surprising, because IP laws are all about us, but go mostly unrecognized. They are complicated and arcane, and few people understand why they should care about copyright, patents, and trademarks. In this lustrous collection, Claudy Op den Kamp and Dan Hunter have brought together a group of contributors - drawn from around the globe in fields including law, history, sociology, science and technology, media, and even horticulture - to tell a history of IP in 50 objects. These objects not only demonstrate the significance of the IP system, but also show how IP has developed and how it has influenced history. Each object is at the core of a story that will be appreciated by anyone interested in how great innovations offer a unique window into our past, present, and future.

Compiled by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) with the support of the WIPO China Funds-in-Trust, this book gives students a basic yet comprehensive understanding of IP. Using a question-and-answer format, it covers the general rules of the IP system as well as the essentials of patents, copyright, trademarks and other forms of IP, such as industrial designs, geographical indications and traditional knowledge.

This booklet provides an introduction for newcomers to the subject of industrial property. It explains the principles underpinning industrial property rights, and describes the most common forms of industrial property, including patents and utility models for inventions, industrial designs, trademarks and geographical indications.

This book applies a novel conflict-based approach to the notions of ‘idea’, ‘concept’, ‘invention’ and ‘immateriality’ in the legal regime of intellectual property rights by turning to the adversarial legal practices in which they occur. In doing so, it provides extensive ethnographies of the courts and law firms, and tackles classical questions in legal doctrine about the immaterial nature of intellectual property rights from a thoroughly new perspective.

As technological developments multiply around the globeâ€"even as the patenting of human genes comes under serious discussionâ€"nations, companies, and researchers find themselves in conflict over intellectual property rights (IPRs). Now, an international group of experts presents the first multidisciplinary look at IPRs in an age of explosive growth in science and technology. This thought-provoking volume offers an update on current international IPR negotiations and includes case studies on software, computer chips, optoelectronics, and biotechnologyâ€"areas characterized by high development cost and easy reproducibility. The volume covers these and other issues: Modern economic theory as a basis for approaching international IPRs. U.S. intellectual property practices versus those in Japan, India, the European Community, and the developing and newly industrializing countries. Trends in science and technology and how they affect IPRs. Pros and cons of a uniform international IPRs regime versus a system reflecting national differences.

This booklet provides an introduction for newcomers to the subject of copyright and related rights. It explains the fundamentals underpinning copyright law and practice, and describes the different types of rights which copyright and related rights law protects, as well as the limitations on those rights. It also briefly covers transfer of copyright and provisions for enforcement.